The OnePlus Watch 2 is here, and it’s quickly become my favorite Wear OS smartwatch after only a few days of use! Its battery life has been STELLAR - it lasted me 75 hours during the first cycle! This is thanks to its huge battery (500mAh versus 306mAh in the Pixel Watch 2) and also Google’s new Wear OS hybrid OS interface.
I’ll share my full impressions on tomorrow’s episode of the Android Faithful podcast, but here’s a rundown of the key specs and features:
- Size: 47.0 x 46.6 x 12.1mm
- Weight: 49g (without strap)
- Build: Stainless steel chassis, 2.5D sapphire crystal face, IP68 rating, MIL-STD-810H certified
- Colors: Black Steel or Radiant Steel
- Strap: 22mm fluor rubber
- Display: 1.43” AMOLED round display, 60Hz refresh rate, up to 1000 nits peak brightness, 466x466 resolution (326 ppi)
- Chipsets: Qualcomm Snapdragon W5 Gen 1 + BES2700
- Positioning: Dual-frequency L1+L5 GNSS
- Sensors: Accelerometer, gyroscope, 8-channel optical heart rate, optical pulse oximeter, geomagnetic, light, barometer
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi + Bluetooth (no LTE)
- Battery: 500mAh. Up to 100 hours in Smart Mode. Up to 12 days in Power Saver Mode.
- Charging: VOOC fast charging (1 to 100% in 1 hour)
- RAM/ROM: 2GB + 32GB
- Software: Wear OS 4 based on Android 13 (W5 Gen 1) + custom RTOS (BES2700). 2 years of updates. Can be paired with Android 8.0+ devices only through the OHealth app.
With the launch of the OnePlus Watch 2, the OHealth app has been updated to support Android’s Health Connect by platform. This lets you share health data collected by OHealth with other apps that support Health Connect, like Fitbit. OHealth includes tracking modes for > 100 sports, detailed sleep tracking analysis, and more.
I’ll share my full impressions on tomorrow’s episode of the Android Faithful podcast, but here’s a rundown of the key specs and features:
- Size: 47.0 x 46.6 x 12.1mm
- Weight: 49g (without strap)
- Build: Stainless steel chassis, 2.5D sapphire crystal face, IP68 rating, MIL-STD-810H certified
- Colors: Black Steel or Radiant Steel
- Strap: 22mm fluor rubber
- Display: 1.43” AMOLED round display, 60Hz refresh rate, up to 1000 nits peak brightness, 466x466 resolution (326 ppi)
- Chipsets: Qualcomm Snapdragon W5 Gen 1 + BES2700
- Positioning: Dual-frequency L1+L5 GNSS
- Sensors: Accelerometer, gyroscope, 8-channel optical heart rate, optical pulse oximeter, geomagnetic, light, barometer
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi + Bluetooth (no LTE)
- Battery: 500mAh. Up to 100 hours in Smart Mode. Up to 12 days in Power Saver Mode.
- Charging: VOOC fast charging (1 to 100% in 1 hour)
- RAM/ROM: 2GB + 32GB
- Software: Wear OS 4 based on Android 13 (W5 Gen 1) + custom RTOS (BES2700). 2 years of updates. Can be paired with Android 8.0+ devices only through the OHealth app.
With the launch of the OnePlus Watch 2, the OHealth app has been updated to support Android’s Health Connect by platform. This lets you share health data collected by OHealth with other apps that support Health Connect, like Fitbit. OHealth includes tracking modes for > 100 sports, detailed sleep tracking analysis, and more.
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Mishaal's Android News Feed
The OnePlus Watch 2 is here, and it’s quickly become my favorite Wear OS smartwatch after only a few days of use! Its battery life has been STELLAR - it lasted me 75 hours during the first cycle! This is thanks to its huge battery (500mAh versus 306mAh in…
Fun fact: the OnePlus Watch 2 can be easily bootloader unlocked.
Just like with the Pixel Watch 2, the charging puck for the OnePlus Watch 2 supports USB data transfer. Unlocking it is as easy as toggling "enable OEM unlocking" in Developer Options, rebooting to the bootloader, then sending
The recovery interface isn't optimized for the watch, but the physical buttons do work as selectors.
I'd imagine most of you won't unlock the bootloader (I just wanted to see if it worked), but the fact that the puck supports USB data is nice because it also makes ADB access much easier.
I'll be sharing my full impressions of the OnePlus Watch 2 on tomorrow's episode of the Android Faithful podcast!
Just like with the Pixel Watch 2, the charging puck for the OnePlus Watch 2 supports USB data transfer. Unlocking it is as easy as toggling "enable OEM unlocking" in Developer Options, rebooting to the bootloader, then sending
fastboot flashing unlock.The recovery interface isn't optimized for the watch, but the physical buttons do work as selectors.
I'd imagine most of you won't unlock the bootloader (I just wanted to see if it worked), but the fact that the puck supports USB data is nice because it also makes ADB access much easier.
I'll be sharing my full impressions of the OnePlus Watch 2 on tomorrow's episode of the Android Faithful podcast!
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You can now set the Microsoft Copilot app as your default assistant app on Android!
With version 27.9.420225014, available in beta, you can change the default assistant app to Copilot. This lets you launch Copilot from any screen by swiping diagonally from the corner or long-pressing the power button.
However, it seems Copilot isn't taking full advantage of this, as invoking it just launches the main activity. It doesn't even automatically listen for input yet, nor does it use the APIs that would let it grab a screenshot of the current on-screen content. I wouldn't be surprised if Microsoft is working on these aspects, though.
H/T Bartok Adrian Gabriel on Telegram
With version 27.9.420225014, available in beta, you can change the default assistant app to Copilot. This lets you launch Copilot from any screen by swiping diagonally from the corner or long-pressing the power button.
However, it seems Copilot isn't taking full advantage of this, as invoking it just launches the main activity. It doesn't even automatically listen for input yet, nor does it use the APIs that would let it grab a screenshot of the current on-screen content. I wouldn't be surprised if Microsoft is working on these aspects, though.
H/T Bartok Adrian Gabriel on Telegram
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After being stuck on the July 2023 Google Play System Update for so long, the January 2024 GPSU is finally rolling out for Samsung Galaxy devices like the Galaxy S24!
Meanwhile, the February 2024 GPSU is slowly rolling out for some Pixel users.
Neither the January nor the February 2024 GPSU has any really interesting changes, but the March 2024 GPSU will have a pretty significant change. More on that soon 👀
(Thanks to ashutosh28 on Twitter for the tip!)
Meanwhile, the February 2024 GPSU is slowly rolling out for some Pixel users.
Neither the January nor the February 2024 GPSU has any really interesting changes, but the March 2024 GPSU will have a pretty significant change. More on that soon 👀
(Thanks to ashutosh28 on Twitter for the tip!)
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Google is planning to push an update to Android phones that could dramatically improve AV1 video playback on budget devices. The March 2024 Play System Update may swap Google's libgav1 codec with VideoLAN's libdav1d codec.
You can read more about why this matters over on Android Authority.
Edit: A VLC for Android developer told me that the version of VLC I used back in November 2023 during testing actually shipped about a year old version of libvlc at the time of release. Plus, as the VideoLAN Twitter account points out, libdav1d 1.4.1 is coming soon which boosts AV1 decode performance even further!
So we're about to see an even bigger AV1 decode performance gain on many devices than I previously thought once this change rolls out!
You can read more about why this matters over on Android Authority.
Edit: A VLC for Android developer told me that the version of VLC I used back in November 2023 during testing actually shipped about a year old version of libvlc at the time of release. Plus, as the VideoLAN Twitter account points out, libdav1d 1.4.1 is coming soon which boosts AV1 decode performance even further!
So we're about to see an even bigger AV1 decode performance gain on many devices than I previously thought once this change rolls out!
Android Authority
Upcoming Android update will give AV1 videos a big boost on budget devices
Android currently ships with the libgav1 AV1 decoder, but a future update will switch that to libdav1d, which offers much better performance.
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If you develop a watch face for Wear OS, heads up: Upcoming releases of Wear OS may require you to use the Watch Face Format (WFF) in order to "show data from most data sources in watch face complications."
In future releases, watch faces built on the legacy Jetpack Watch Face library or the Wearable Support Library will only be able to show basic data like the battery level, unread notification count, time, date, and an app shortcut.
Google sent an email to developers yesterday (h/t 9to5Google) which leads to the above snippet in the developer docs.
Watch face developers on Reddit point out that some features unique to legacy watch faces, like certain in-app features or complex animations, don't translate to the new WFF.
If I had to guess why Google is doing this, my bet is that this has to do with supporting the new hybrid OS interface that Google announced a few days ago. Watch faces built on the WFF are rendered on the ultra low-power MCU instead of the AP. It makes sense that heavily customized watch faces can't easily be made to operate on the MCU which runs an entirely different OS. Google wants to standardize watch faces so users don't have to worry about whether a watch face will heavily limit their smartwatch's battery life.
In future releases, watch faces built on the legacy Jetpack Watch Face library or the Wearable Support Library will only be able to show basic data like the battery level, unread notification count, time, date, and an app shortcut.
Google sent an email to developers yesterday (h/t 9to5Google) which leads to the above snippet in the developer docs.
Watch face developers on Reddit point out that some features unique to legacy watch faces, like certain in-app features or complex animations, don't translate to the new WFF.
If I had to guess why Google is doing this, my bet is that this has to do with supporting the new hybrid OS interface that Google announced a few days ago. Watch faces built on the WFF are rendered on the ultra low-power MCU instead of the AP. It makes sense that heavily customized watch faces can't easily be made to operate on the MCU which runs an entirely different OS. Google wants to standardize watch faces so users don't have to worry about whether a watch face will heavily limit their smartwatch's battery life.
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Mishaal's Android News Feed
Starting today, developers submitting apps for distribution on Google TV will be required to provide a square app icon asset in addition to a banner logo. This is because in early 2024, the Google TV launcher's "For you" tab will display app icons in a circular…
Google TV is starting to roll out a revamped home screen with circular app icons. This rollout is starting today and will be coming to all Google TV devices over the next few months.
This follows Google's announcement in November that developers submitting apps for distribution on Google TV would be required to provide a square app icon asset in addition to a banner logo (more details on this requirement in the post linked above).
Alongside circular app icons, the Google TV home screen is also adding a shortcut to free TV channels in the "Your apps" row, getting an increased number of app icons in the "Your apps" row, and new "reorder" and "add apps" buttons at the end of the row.
This follows Google's announcement in November that developers submitting apps for distribution on Google TV would be required to provide a square app icon asset in addition to a banner logo (more details on this requirement in the post linked above).
Alongside circular app icons, the Google TV home screen is also adding a shortcut to free TV channels in the "Your apps" row, getting an increased number of app icons in the "Your apps" row, and new "reorder" and "add apps" buttons at the end of the row.
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Here's everything you need to know about the new Wear OS hybrid interface on the OnePlus Watch 2, including an explanation of how this feature might make its way to other watches. Thanks to Björn Kilburn, VP of Wear OS at Google, for doing an interview!
You can read the full article over at Android Police.
You can read the full article over at Android Police.
Android Police
Everything you need to know about the Wear OS hybrid interface
Google VP 'not surprised' if other OEMs adopt Wear OS's new hybrid interface
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Microsoft is rolling out an update to its Link to Windows app that enables using your Android phone or tablet as your PC's webcam!
This is "gradually rolling out" to Windows Insiders users across all Insider Channels. Your PC needs to be running Windows 11 and your Android phone needs to be on Android 9 or later with Link to Windows version 1.24012 or greater.
To enable this, go to Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Mobile devices and choose “Manage devices” and allow your PC to access your Android phone. Your PC will then get a "Cross Device Experience Host" update in the Microsoft Store.
(This feature was originally announced at CES 2024 during Samsung's keynote session, but Microsoft's blog post makes it sound like this isn't exclusive to Galaxy phones or Galaxy Book laptops!)
This is "gradually rolling out" to Windows Insiders users across all Insider Channels. Your PC needs to be running Windows 11 and your Android phone needs to be on Android 9 or later with Link to Windows version 1.24012 or greater.
To enable this, go to Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Mobile devices and choose “Manage devices” and allow your PC to access your Android phone. Your PC will then get a "Cross Device Experience Host" update in the Microsoft Store.
(This feature was originally announced at CES 2024 during Samsung's keynote session, but Microsoft's blog post makes it sound like this isn't exclusive to Galaxy phones or Galaxy Book laptops!)
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Mishaal's Android News Feed
Android 14 is introducing a new safety feature called "headphone loud sound alerts". This is REALLY important. Way too many people suffer from hearing loss because they listened to music at excessively loud volumes for too long. I know I talked about headphone…
Apparently, Android 14's "headphone loud sound alerts" feature is only fully enabled started with the QPR1 release in December 2023.
Since this feature is only fully implemented in Android 14 QPR1, that means we likely won't see it appear on OEM devices (who don't already have their own implementation like Samsung) until Android 15.
As I mentioned in my article for Android Police, this feature monitors sound doses over time to protect users from the damaging effects of excessive or prolonged sound exposure. This feature conforms to the regulatory requirements mentioned in IEC62368-1 3rd edition and EN50332-3.
Here's Google's documentation for AOSP developers.
Since this feature is only fully implemented in Android 14 QPR1, that means we likely won't see it appear on OEM devices (who don't already have their own implementation like Samsung) until Android 15.
As I mentioned in my article for Android Police, this feature monitors sound doses over time to protect users from the damaging effects of excessive or prolonged sound exposure. This feature conforms to the regulatory requirements mentioned in IEC62368-1 3rd edition and EN50332-3.
Here's Google's documentation for AOSP developers.
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Heads up: Users are reporting that the Google Messages app won't let them send or receive RCS messages if the OS is rooted or hasn't passed GMS certification (like most custom ROMs).
It seems that Google Messages has implemented Play Integrity API attestation checks, so be aware if you root your device or install a custom ROM, you may lose access to RCS in Google Messages.
More discussion here.
(Video by Reddit user joefuf).
It seems that Google Messages has implemented Play Integrity API attestation checks, so be aware if you root your device or install a custom ROM, you may lose access to RCS in Google Messages.
More discussion here.
(Video by Reddit user joefuf).
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Google wants to make Android 15 more resilient to WebView crashes. They're doing this by introducing a new Project Mainline called WebViewBootstrap.
You can learn all about this project in my latest article for Android Police.
You can learn all about this project in my latest article for Android Police.
Android Police
Google wants to make Android 15 more resilient to WebView crashes
Many Android apps use WebView to render web pages, so a WebView crash can be catastrophic. Here's how Google plans to address this in Android 15
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Forwarded from Google News | En
Google prepares 'Satellite SOS' emergency feature for Pixel devices.
The recent update to the 'Adaptive Connectivity Services' app version p.2024.08 makes preparations for the new 'Satellite SOS' emergency feature. It will allow you to messages emergency services and let them know your location when you are unable to connect to a mobile network or Wi-Fi.
The settings page, located at Settings / Safety & Emergency / Satellite SOS, includes a denoscription of how the feature works, the ability to customize the info that will be shared with the emergency services, and a link to purchase Garmin Search & Rescue insurance. The page also has a link to a support page with a list of supported countries, which is not working yet.
While the denoscription clearly refers to "your Pixel", it's unclear which devices will be supported. Additionally, the latest update to Google Messages adds a new SATELLITE_COMMUNICATION permission. Awhile ago Neïl Rahmouni showed a UI for conversations and SOS messages using satellite connection in Google Messages app.
😎 Google News | En
The recent update to the 'Adaptive Connectivity Services' app version p.2024.08 makes preparations for the new 'Satellite SOS' emergency feature. It will allow you to messages emergency services and let them know your location when you are unable to connect to a mobile network or Wi-Fi.
The settings page, located at Settings / Safety & Emergency / Satellite SOS, includes a denoscription of how the feature works, the ability to customize the info that will be shared with the emergency services, and a link to purchase Garmin Search & Rescue insurance. The page also has a link to a support page with a list of supported countries, which is not working yet.
While the denoscription clearly refers to "your Pixel", it's unclear which devices will be supported. Additionally, the latest update to Google Messages adds a new SATELLITE_COMMUNICATION permission. Awhile ago Neïl Rahmouni showed a UI for conversations and SOS messages using satellite connection in Google Messages app.
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rquickshare is a Linux client for Google's Quick Share (formerly Nearby Share) file sharing service. This lets you share files between your Android phone and your Linux PC!
rquickshare is open source, AGPL-3.0 licensed, and the lib is written in Rust. It only works via Wi-Fi LAN ie. your devices need to be on the same network. Also, you are visible to everyone on your network while the app is running.
It's a WIP but let me know if it works for you!
rquickshare on GitHub by developer Martichou.
rquickshare is open source, AGPL-3.0 licensed, and the lib is written in Rust. It only works via Wi-Fi LAN ie. your devices need to be on the same network. Also, you are visible to everyone on your network while the app is running.
It's a WIP but let me know if it works for you!
rquickshare on GitHub by developer Martichou.
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